Nico Rosberg Wins in Japan

Nico Rosberg extended his championship lead after winning the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, October 9th, 2016. Max Verstappen and team-mate Lewis Hamilton struck back from a nightmare start to round up the podium.

The celebrations for the Mercedes team never ended there. The first and third finish at the Formula 1 Emirates Japanese Grand Prix Circuit meant the team wrapped up the constructor’s championship. Effectively, this awarded the team their third consecutive constructor’s trophy.

Nico Rosberg had the momentum throughout the weekend topping the time sheets in all three free practise sessions, as well as topping the qualifying to start in pole position. A slow start from team-mate Lewis Hamilton, which saw him drop from second position to eighth which initially gave Rosberg the start he needed to take control of the race from start to finish.

Rosberg controlled the race well out in front of the pack to award him his first ever Japanese win, and ninth of the season so far. He is now 33 points clear of team-mate Hamilton in the driver’s standing and is only required to finish second or better for the remaining four races to take his first driver’s championship.